Teaching Challenges and Rewards

I never realized how much technology can enhance the learning experience. Showing videos with subtitles and pictures of animals can be stimulating.  Even though I have a laptop, the school doesn't have a projector and I can't show my students movies on my
13 inch laptop because there are about 60 students in each class.

Also, having limited

technology makes grading tedious.  Every thing is done manually.  For example, instead of having

the kids do a multiple-choice test on a scantron and having a scantron machine grade it, the professor

has to grade every test and then record the names and grades of each student on a list.

We have limited technology at my school because we have limited financial resources.  I remember when I was in high school, every student had a textbook and we all had internet access to do book reports.  I can't tell the students, "Turn to page 50, so we can read together."  Unfortunately, anything I want the students to read, I have to hand-write it and they have to copy the texts from the chalk board to their English notebooks.  This method is not only time consuming, but it can be less stimulating without visual aids.

Another thing that's challenging, is that the students aren't allowed to speak their local dialect in school.  This is true for all students in this country. They have to speak Portuguese.  This makes it  difficult to teach English when some students

struggle with Portuguese, their second language.  Perhaps the hardest thing

is that many of the students are illiterate and teaching them syntax and phrasal verbs in English

is daunting for many. 

  I have to keep in mind that I'm teaching in one of the poorest countries

in the world.  Some of the students may come to school with a growling stomach.  They might be

tired from waking up at 4 am to work in the field. Their priorities may not be getting good grades in their English class.  Their values may be to provide financial and emotional  support

for the family and community.  

The rewards, however, make volunteering here worth it.  In every class, I have at least two students

who are passionate about learning English.  They raise their hand in class when they want to 

share an idea or they read articles outside of class to expand their vocabulary.  

Also, whether or not my students do well in  my English class, they make me laugh.

Maybe teaching isn't just about learning, it may

be about having a good laugh as well.  For just a moment, sitting in a classroom and laughing could

help a pupil forget about her sick grandmother or about how she will

 pay for pencils and a notebook.  When teaching new English vocabulary, I sometimes ask my students how they say words in lomwe, the local language in my region.   After they say the word, I repeat it.  My bad pronunciation and accent  make the students grab their stomachs and some fall on the floor from laughing so hard.  I laugh as well because seeing them laugh, makes me laugh, even if I am breaking the rules by letting them speak the local dialect.